Janus
by LegendsofLit
Summary: 'She was alone. She had left Percy behind. And he wasn't going to come out alive' Annabeth's thoughts right after leaving Percy at Mt. St. Helens. Oneshot.


_**Janus **_

_**By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx**_

**AN: Why, hello there again, my lovelies. It's been quite a long while, hasn't it? Well, for this account, at least. If you've been following on my account, then you know that I've posted a few Hunger Games stories.**

**But, anyway, I'm not here to talk about that. I've had this story saved on my computer, but I haven't been sure when to post it because I haven't had anyone else read over it. Of course, I'm kind of antsy right now, so I decided to go ahead and post it.**

**This is inspired of livingondaydream's story, _Echoes_, which is simply amazing. Go, find her, and _read it_.**

**So, yeah, I hope you enjoy this story. I think there was supposed to be a companion piece to it... I'll talk with the others.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

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><p>Annabeth Chase, like most other people in the world, wasn't too terribly fond of making choices.<p>

It wasn't that she was bad at choosing one thing or another—she was actually fairly good at it—but when it came to making big decisions that involved possibly _dying_... well, she tried her best to stay _far _away from those. But, being a demigod, it was awfully hard to stay away from different crossways and paths that you could choose. It seemed like one after another, a choice would show up, and somehow, her ultimate decision _always _ended up hurting someone.

Needless to say, when, in the Labyrinth, she ran into Janus, Annabeth was not a (no pun intended) happy camper.

It could've been the fact that he was _pushing _her to make that _stupid _decision now, even though she wasn't even entirely sure what she was supposed to be _choosing_! He wouldn't tell her. All he would do was try to taunt her…then try to comfort her…then go off and push her into choosing some more. As much as she hated to admit it, it had almost been too much for her. The sinking feeling in her chest when Janus had mentioned the fact that she could _kill_ her friends with one single decision…

_And lose a love to worse than death…_

Those bone-chilling words constantly echoed through her mind, and she couldn't help but think of how _dumb _it had been to bring _Percy_, of _all people_, on this quest—the one that said she would loose someone she loved! Yes, she wasn't entirely sure who the prophecy was talking about—it might be Luke, but she'd pretty much already lost him—but Percy was definitely a possibility. He just… he just was _Percy_. She wasn't entirely sure of how she felt about him… But… it almost seemed like she… _liked him_.

Which only meant that dragging him on this quest put his life in ten times more danger than the standard danger that came from a quest.

Now, she was running as fast as she could, trying to keep up with that… _spider_. (Gods, just thinking about it made her shudder.) The tunnels were extremely warm; rebel tears were nearly blinding her eyes. It felt so… empty. Like, something was missing. She was _alone_.

_She had left Percy behind._

The second she reached the safety of the Labyrinth(what irony), she regretted leaving him to fight the telekhines. Sure, he "had a plan," but this was _Percy_, and the majority of the time, he either didn't have an actual plan, or it was something incredibly _stupid _that would get him killed.

She regretfully presumed Percy really didn't have a plan, and was going to get himself into some _deep _trouble.

Her lungs _burned_, but she kept running, knowing that if she stopped to rest, she would drag herself back to the forge to save Percy's sorry butt. As much as she wanted to do just that, she had a quest to complete. She _had_ to report back to Hephaestus, and get his help on finding Daedalus, even if her idol apparently wasn't trustworthy. She had to protect camp from Luke's army, even if doing so cost Percy.

_But, _part of her less rational side had to argue, _was it really worth loosing him?_

Those screams from when she had just barely made it into the Labyrinth echoed through her mind—gods, those _terrible, heart-wrenching_ screams that had come from her _best friend,_ who she had _left behind_. In leaving him, she pretty much signed his death warrant, all because the logical side of her forced her to put the rest of the world before Percy.

It seemed like being the daughter of the wisdom goddess was both a blessing and a curse.

The earth began violently shaking, and she stopped abruptly, looking around, a sinking feeling in her chest. Oh, gods, she felt sick to her stomach… The tunnels felt strangely hotter, and the earth was now vibrating madly… She nearly choked on her own spit, putting her hand on the wall of the tunnel. Her head was spinning; holy _Zeus_, there was an _earthquake _happening, and Percy was still in the volcano.

He wasn't going to come out alive.

As if her chances of his survival could've been any slimmer, now, she had to worry about the fact that he was trapped inside of an alive volcano, that also happened to be where Typhon was being kept. If the movement was great enough…it might be able to jostle the giant monster from his sleep. And, _that_ would be as bad, if not worse than Kronos rising.

Her breath caught in her throat, and the salty tears rolled down her cheeks, landing on the ground with a soft _PLOP!_ There was no turning back now… she had left Percy behind, and now, he wasn't going to come back. He was _dead_.

_And lose a love to worse than death…_

It hurt thinking that Percy was actually her 'love,' and that she hadn't even reallycomprehended that before he _died_. Now, she had no chance to pursue something with him. She couldn't see his messy black hair or his sea green eyes ever again. She'd never be able to tease him, to make him feel like a complete idiot.

The spider was almost out of sight now—a few more moments, and she would probably be on her own in the Labyrinth. First Grover and Tyson, then Percy, and now the spider. Even the gods damned _spider _was going to leave her. But, that wasn't anyone's fault. The spider was programmed to run without looking back, and it wasn't like she had made some stupid, life-threatening decision that cost her three of the most important people in her life.

That was three decisions in one year that made her loose people she loved. First, letting Luke just go, without doing anything about it. Then, letting Grover and Tyson delve through the ancient maze, hoping to find Pan, and probably not going to find anything.

And now, leaving Percy behind in the volcano.

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like Annabeth Chase wasn't as good at making decisions as she thought she was.


End file.
